Slimmed-down Kevon Looney making case for long-term future with Warriors

Drenched in sweat after the Warriors’ shoot-around Friday morning, seldom-used forward Kevon Looney shook his head slightly and wiped his forehead with his practice jersey.

“At some point,” Looney said, “my time will come.”

In the 28 months since Golden State drafted him out of UCLA, Looney had undergone two hip surgeries, played in 59 of a possible 211 games and seen social-media rumblings that the team would be better off waiving him. The former five-star recruit managed his disappointment by trusting that his diligence would eventually be rewarded.

During Friday night’s 120-117 win over Washington, he hushed his critics with the most memorable performance of his nascent NBA career. Looney, thrust into action after Draymond Green was ejected late in the second quarter, was a driving force behind the Warriors’ 18-point, second-half comeback.

In less than two crunch-time minutes, Looney scored seven of his nine points to help Golden State stave off what would have been its third loss in its sixth game of the season. A player long buried behind a cast of All-Stars on the depth chart stepped to the podium for his first postgame news conference. After fielding questions and changing into street clothes, Looney was stopped by Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob in the Oracle Arena hallway.

“Great job tonight,” Lacob said, embracing Looney.

Warriors' Kevon Looney during 2017 media day for the NBA's Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Ca., on Friday September 22, 2017.

Warriors' Kevon Looney during 2017 media day for the NBA's Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Ca., on Friday September 22, 2017.

Slimmed-down Kevon Looney making case for long-term future with Warriors

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The timing of Looney’s breakthrough was ideal: By Tuesday, Golden State must decide whether to pick up his option for next season. It is a $2.2 million investment that, while a small sum in the grand scheme of the organization, could be spent grooming someone less injury-prone.

Looney has yet to hear from the front office on the matter, but his strides over the past four months only buoyed his chances of playing a fourth year with the Warriors. An overhauled diet and intensive summer workout regimen helped him shed 30 pounds from his 6-foot-9 frame. Now the lightest he has been since his junior year of high school at 220 pounds, Looney can play extended minutes without grabbing his shorts to gasp for breath.

Midway through the fourth quarter Friday, Looney corralled a pass from Stephen Curry at the top of the key and darted past Wizards center Marcin Gortat for a dunk to tie the game at 109-109. Less than two minutes later, after disrupting a John Wall layup attempt, Looney raced down court, caught a bounce pass from Andre Iguodala and hammered home a two-handed dunk while drawing contact. Looney swung on the rim, a capacity crowd roaring, before chest-bumping Kevin Durant and making the free throw.

“Last year, I probably couldn’t have done it because I would have been too tired to run down the court like that,” Looney said. “I feel a lot better. … I feel like I’m comfortable out there.”

Two hip surgeries limited his rookie season in 2015-16 to five games. Having only played competitively in three of the previous 15 months, Looney arrived at training camp in September 2016 pudgy and out of sync with his teammates.

He showed enough promise in preseason for Golden State to pick up his third-year option last October. Not accustomed to the grind of an 82-game season, Looney quickly wore down and fell out of the rotation. Team trainers decided to sit him for the playoffs when Looney began to experience minor pain in his left foot in April.

Ten days after the Warriors won their second NBA title in three years, they paid the Bulls $3.5 million for the draft-night rights to Oregon forward Jordan Bell, further crowding a loaded frontcourt. It didn’t help that Looney missed time at Las Vegas Summer League with an allergic reaction that made his eyelids swell, affecting his vision.

When Looney flew to Los Angeles in mid-July, he knew his status with Golden State was tenuous. Some were speculating on Twitter that the Warriors should cut Looney before training camp to free up a roster spot for a more intriguing young player.

Finally healthy, he hired a personal trainer who put him on a variation of the Paleo diet. Lunch and dinner for two weeks consisted of ground turkey, broccoli and sweet potatoes. When his girlfriend brought home Chick-fil-A, Looney walked into another room as she ate so he wouldn’t get tempted.

His body-fat percentage dropped below 10 for the first time in his adult life. During pickup games at UCLA with fellow NBA players, Looney noticed he had more lift on his vertical jump. It didn’t take long at training camp in September for Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to see that his third-year forward warranted meaningful playing time.

The problem is that one of the most stacked depth charts in NBA history affords Kerr little flexibility. To log 12 minutes in Friday’s win over Washington, Looney needed Green to get tossed for fighting and Bell — already a revelation less than two weeks into his rookie season — to be inactive for the night.

As the final buzzer sounded, Kerr pulled Looney aside to tell him that Looney’s big outing was karma.

“I could not be happier for Kevon,” Kerr said. “You work that hard in the offseason, you put that much effort in, you have such a good camp, things tend to go your way.”